Device for drying shoes

ABSTRACT

A device for directly drying the inside of shoes, such as bowling shoes or golf shoes, which consists of a drying box provided with an external heater, a serpentine air inlet pipe within the box connected to said heater and provided with a plurality of perforate nozzles on which said shoes may be hung.

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,793,744 Salta Feb. 26, 1974 [54] DEVICEFOR DRYING SHOES 3,096,148 7/1963 Walker, Jr. 21/108 1,934,956 11/1933Wait 21/55 X [76] Inventori S 1,488,433 3/1924 MacDonald 34/202YOShIhaYa-CYP, 081a, Fukuoaka 1,413,862 4/1922 MacDonald 34/202Prefecture, lizuka, Japan [22] Filed: June 12, 1972 PrimaryExaminer-Kenneth W. Sprague Assistant Examiner-James C. Yeung [2] 1Appl' 261996 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Brisebois & Kruger [52] US. Cl34/104, 34/202, 21/110 7 ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl. F26!) 25/00 [5 1 n I I[58] Field of Search 34/104, 202, 236, 80; 251/145, A devlce fordirectly drymg the 1ns1de of shoes, such 251 293 352; 21 0 110 121 55 5as bowling shoes or golf shoes, which consists ofa dry- 12/1294 142 v 123 25 ing box provided with an external heater, a'serpentine air inletpipe within the box connected to said heater 5 References Cited andprovided with a plurality of perforate nozzles on UNITED STATES PATENTSwhich said shoes may be hung. 3,299,529 I /1967 Roberts et a1. 34/104 5Claims, 8 Drawing Figures FATENTEDFEB26 19m SHEET 1 0F 2- 1 DEVICE FORDRYING SHOES SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a devicefor drying shoes, such as bowling shoes or golf shoes, after they havebeen used for a time, and especially for drying the inside of the shoesdirectly.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a device fordirectly drying the inside of the bowling shoes or golf shoes which havebeen worn for some time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device fordrying shoes in which hot air never blows directly against the instep ofsole of the shoes.

There are various known devices for drying bowling shoes or golf shoesbut almost all of them are merely in the form of drying boxes in whichthe shoes to be dried are placed, or hung on some hanging means, and aredried by direct blowing of hot air. However, it is difficult to causethe hot air to completely dry the inside of the shoes and eliminateoffensive smells, since it does not reach parts of the shoes.Furthermore, the hot air in such devices is more directly and stronglyblown against the instep or sole of the shoes rather than the inside,which often results in cracking of the outer surface of the shoes andalso makes the shoes slippery.

Other objects of the present invention will be better understood fromthe following description of several embodiments thereof, with referencetothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the first embodiment of the presentinvention with a portion of one door broken away;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view showing one of the nozzles of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken along the line VV of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing a pair of shoes and nozzles at thetime of drying;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the third embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 8 is a vertical section taken along the line VlII- -VIII of theFIG. 7.

The first embodiment of this invention (shown in FIGS. 1-3) will now bedescribed. In'the first embodiment, a drying box 2 provided with frontdoors 1, through which shoes may be inserted and removed, comprises aserpentine inlet pipe 3, a suitable number of curved nozzles 4 mountedon each horizontal part of the inlet pipe, a plurality of apertures 5 insaid nozzles for discharging hot air over the surface of the nozzles,and a blower 7 between the inlet pipe 3 and a heater 6 mounted outsidethe box and connected to the end of the inlet pipe. Reference numeral 8indicates an ozone-generator and 9 a solid block of formalin, which arepositioned in the lower part of the box. Reference numeral 10schematically indicates a shoe hung on one of the nozzles.

According to the present invention, after shoes which i have been usedfor some time are hung on the individual nozzle as shown in FIG. 3, hotair generated by' operation of the heater passes through the inlet pipeand flows out of the nozzles into the shoes. Since the hot airdischarged from the apertures of the nozzles strikes the inside of theshoes, the shoes can be perfectly dried and deodorized from the insidewhich is apt to become wet and unsanitary. Furthermore, in thisinvention, the exterior sole and the instep of the shoes are not drieddirectly by the incoming hot air, but are warmed by the remaining heatin the closed drying box, so the shoes treated in this device do notbecome slippery, and at the same time the present invention keeps theouter surface of the shoes from cracking.

The second embodiment of the present invention (shown in FIGS. 4-6),also comprises a'drying box 2 as shown in the first embodiment, whichbox is provided with shelves 11 on which shoes are placed. A hot airinlet pipe 3 winds along the shelves and a suitable number of forkednozzles 12 are connected to the horizontal parts of the inlet pipe. Aheater 6 is connected to the outer end of the inlet pipe through a valve13.

When the tips of the forked nozzles are inserted into the shoes on theshelf and the valve between the inlet pipe and the heater is opened, hotair generated in the heater is discharged into the shoes from thenozzles.

In the third embodiment of the present invention (shown in FIGS. 7-8),curved nozzles 14 are hinged to the horizontal parts of the inlet pipein a drying box similar to the one shown in the second embodiment. Eachcurved nozzle has a plurality of apertures in its surface and valvemembers 15 are provided at the jointbetween the nozzle and the blastpipe. These valve members are freely opened and closed by an arm 16 nearthe inlet end of the nozzle. When the nozzle hangs free, it tends tohang at an angle, so that the valve is closed, but when a shoe is hungon the nozzle, it returns to a vertical position, in which said armlifts the valve member. Hot air generated in the heater is dischargedthrough the apertures into theshoesas in the first embodiment.

What is claimed is:

l. A device for drying shoes which comprises a drying box, an air inletpipe within said box carrying a plurality of perforate nozzles adaptedto be inserted into individual shoes, each nozzle being curvedtojsupporta shoe and pivotally connected to said pipe, valve means atthe connection of each nozzle to said pipe, each nozzle being providedwith an arm for actuating the associated valve and mounted to swing to avalve opening position when a shoe is hung thereon, but swing to a valveclosing position when said shoe is removed, a heater outside said box,and a blower connected to blow heated air from said heater into saidinlet pipe.

2. A device claimed in claim 1 which is provided with a solid formalinin the lower part of said box.

3. A device claimed in claim 1 which is provided with an ozone-generatorin the lower part of said box.

4. A device claimed in claim 1 comprising a plurality of shelves withinsaid box for supporting said shoes, said inlet pipe being serpentine inconfiguration and winding along said shelves.

5. A device claimed in claim are forked.

4 in which said nozzles

1. A device for drying shoes which comprises a drying box, an air inletpipe within said box carrying a plurality of perforate nozzles adaptedto be inserted into individual shoes, each nozzle being curved tosupport a shoe and pivotally connected to said pipe, valve means at theconnection of each nozzle to said pipe, each nozzle being provided withan arm for actuating the associated valve and mounted to swing to avalve opening position when a shoe is hung thereon, but swing to a valveclosing position when said shoe is removed, a heater outside said box,and a blower connected to blow heated air from said heater into saidinlet pipe.
 2. A device claimed in claim 1 which is provided with solidformalin in the lower part of said box.
 3. A device claimed in claim 1which is provided with an ozone-generator in the lower part of said box.4. A device claimed in claim 1 comprising a plurality of shelves withinsaid box for supporting said shoes, said inlet pipe being serpentine inconfiguration and winding along said shelves.
 5. A device claimed inclaim 4 in which said nozzles are forked.